Ugh, Bubbles, BUBBLES....

Man this is perplexing me. Iwata HP-CS. Had some intermittent spray issues and a few bubble in the cup. I figured I needed a better seal. Took it apart, soak stuff in restorer and added some (harder than I would like) Bee's wax to the threads. Now it's worse! Now even if I just depress for air I get massive bubble into the cup. Took it apart, figured air was getting blown back somewhere. looked with a loupe and the main airhole is clear, the 3 holes appear clear, all the holes appear clear. I cleaned the threads and tried sealing it with softer chapstick. Same issue, no change.

So, why bubble with just air alone not even pulling back the trigger (like it was before I tried to "fix" it)? What should I be looking at or for? I even sprayed some water around the threads (yeah should have been soapy water) and didn't see any obvious leaks. I'm obviously missing something.

Somewhere in the paint feed you are not getting a good seal. That is when the air takes the easiest route and jumps into paint feed route. So either there is a leak where the nozzle meets the body. Or where the needle meets the inside of the nozzle.

Which head are you using? It usually is just because your not cranking down on the head enough. Being it is a floating nozzle in that airbrush it is common to have it happen. Just make sure you have the correct nozzle, needle and head. There is a difference between the head for the .5 mm than the .35 mm head. This would change the gap around the nozzle.

Thanks folks. Yes, cleaned it all with restorer and then solvent just to make sure. Looked at it with the loupe and the nozzle tip is in good shape. No changes in the current setup so everything is matched up properly.

I think you guys might be right and maybe I am just not cranking the head down tight enough. It is the floating type nozzle. I know people usually over tighten so maybe in an effort to avoid that I under tightened.

Yeah, i think it was a combo of just not having it tight enough but also the hard bee's wax. It pushed back in the threads and built up blocking the head from fully seating. It felt tight but really the wax was blocking it from fully seating.

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